Two important news items this week for buy to let investors. The first is that according to Sainsbury’s Bank there is a renewed interest in buy to let mortgages. The second is that YieldIt, the rental property website, claim that the average age of buy to let investors has fallen.
Sainsbury’s Bank Data indicates more People Interested in Buy To Let
Recent data supplied by Sainsbury’s Bank reveals that now there is interest in buy to let investing from around one in ten adults in the United Kingdom. This data has come from the number of applications and enquiries that the bank has received for buy to let mortgages.
More than a third of the people who have shown interest in a buy to let mortgage claim that a change in income has created the inspiration to invest in buy to let properties. Another third say that they are very encouraged by the growth opportunities that exist at the moment in the private rental sector.
Another 25% stated that they had inherited money and felt that the best form of investment was through the purchase of buy to let properties. Other people have had to change their circumstances and become landlords by accident.
More than 50% of those who are considering the purchase of a buy to let property said that they would prefer to buy a house. Of these 46% stated that they had been looking into the possibility of buying new build properties. Another 46% felt that flats offered them the best opportunity in the private rental sector.
Average Age of Buy to Let Investors has fallen
Some interesting data provided by YieldIt shows that the average age of buy to let property investors has fallen. In 2014 the average age of buy to let investors was 52.3 years and now this has fallen to just 42 years.
A YieldIt representative said that traditionally the buy to let market was an investment opportunity that older generations took advantage of. They already had a foothold in the market but the new data indicates that this is changing.
The drop in investor average ages is consistent for both residential buy to let and student buy to let. In the residential sector the average age of investors was 57.5 years in 2014 and now it is 40.9 years. For the student market it has fallen from 52.3 years in 2014 to 44.2 years in 2018.
YieldIt went on to say that a small number of the buy to let owners were owner occupiers but most of the investors were property investors who were seeking tenanted buy to let. This is no surprise to YieldIt given the record house prices and the continual rise in tenant demand.
Both of these factors have opened up the buy to let market to a broader range of investors. First time investors in buy to let have risen significantly as they chase down the opportunity of high demand in the private rental sector. This is good news for the property investment market overall as an increase in younger investors is always positive.
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